Petrie ‘proud’ of players despite defeat in Peterhead

PETERHEAD 3 MONTROSE 0

Montrose boss Stewart Petrie admitted his side came out second best in their bid to reach the League 1 play-off final.

The Gable Endies crashed 3-0 away to Peterhead on Saturday as Jim McInally’s side clinched a place in the showpiece match against Forfar.

Petrie had no complaints with the result, with the Blue Toon progressing thanks to goals from Rory McAllister and Jordan Brown

“I thought we did really well for half an hour to contain them which was the plan at the start then we fell behind and lost our way a bit,” he said.

They are a strong side and that was clear and they were worthy winner in the end.

“Maybe the second game was too much after all the effort they put in on Wednesday but I am really proud of them.”

Experienced strikers McAllister and Chris Templeman, who were both on the mark in the 1-1 first leg draw at Links Park last week, were in the thick of the action early on as the visitors took the game to their hosts.

Roared on by a big travelling support, the Gable Endies swept the ball around confidently whilst Peterhead were forced to hit on the break in the early stages.

Greg Pascazio should have done better with a mishit shot from the corner of the six -yard box after 17 minutes –and this was to prove to be their best chance of the game.

Peterhead took the lead after 34 minutes. A Jamie Stevenson corner from the right was flicked on by the boot of Nicky Riley and birthday boy McAllister celebrated with a close range header.

And after 51 minutes it was game over. Matty Allan brought down Riley and McAllister made his usual immaculate job from the penalty spot to double their advantage.

The Montrose task became even tougher after 69 minutes when Matty Smith was red carded following his reaction to a foul by Riley out on the left wing.

Two minutes into added time McAllister, who will miss the second leg against Forfar on Saturday, clipped a perfectly weighted ball to the back post and the unmarked Brown nodded in.